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The Latest Punch From Yum! Brands' (YUM) Taco Bell in Breakfast Wars

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Yum! Brands' (YUM - Get Report) Taco Bell has initiated phase two in its campaign to take down king of fast food, McDonald's(MCD - Get Report), by gobbling up the breakfast crowd.

In its latest 30-second spot, an 80's walking stereotype shuns the Egg McMuffin when he embraces his new updated lifestyle (and breakfast).

This follows from its last commercial which featured real-life people named Ronald McDonald vouching for Taco Bell's breakfast.

TheStreet Ratings team rates MCDONALD'S CORP as a Buy with a ratings score of A. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

"We rate MCDONALD'S CORP (MCD) a BUY. This is based on the convergence of positive investment measures, which should help this stock outperform the majority of stocks that we rate. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, good cash flow from operations, growth in earnings per share, increase in net income and expanding profit margins. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had lackluster performance in the stock itself."

Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows:

MCD's revenue growth has slightly outpaced the industry average of 3.5%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly increased by 2.0%. This growth in revenue appears to have trickled down to the company's bottom line, improving the earnings per share.

Net operating cash flow has slightly increased to $1,873.50 million or 1.26% when compared to the same quarter last year. The firm also exceeded the industry average cash flow growth rate of -31.48%.

MCDONALD'S CORP's earnings per share improvement from the most recent quarter was slightly positive. The company has demonstrated a pattern of positive earnings per share growth over the past two years. We feel that this trend should continue. During the past fiscal year, MCDONALD'S CORP increased its bottom line by earning $5.56 versus $5.36 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($5.83 versus $5.56).

The net income growth from the same quarter one year ago has exceeded that of the Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure industry average, but is less than that of the S&P 500. The net income increased by 0.1% when compared to the same quarter one year prior, going from $1,396.10 million to $1,397.00 million.

44.43% is the gross profit margin for MCDONALD'S CORP which we consider to be strong. Regardless of MCD's high profit margin, it has managed to decrease from the same period last year. Despite the mixed results of the gross profit margin, MCD's net profit margin of 19.69% compares favorably to the industry average.